Momo watches Eiji and Oishi. He watches Eiji sitting on the club room's bench, spaced out and with a frown on his face. His glazed expression drifts to Oishi, and he asks, "Oishi, where's Dubai?"

Oishi pauses in his movement to tie up his shoe laces, and looks thoughtful.

"I'm not sure. It's near North Africa, I think."

Eiji bites his lip and nods, looking entirely unsatisfied with the answer.

Tezuka tells them all to get onto the courts, and the exchange ends.

Momo is trying to swindle some of Eiji's lunch when Oishi turns up and places an atlas on the table. Momo and Eiji watch as Oishi flicks through the large book, and finally opens it to a certain page and turns it around to face Eiji.

"Dubai," he reads from the book, "is situated on the northeast coast of the United Arab Emirates, a Middle Eastern country in Southwest Asia."

Eiji stares at the book, and then grins a wide grin at Oishi, who returns it with an almost shy smile. Oishi sits next to Eiji, and the two begin to converse.

Momo slinks out of the room, forgotten.

He finds Echizen on the roof.

"Hey, Echizen…"

The boy glances up from his lunch, expression telling Momo to get on with it.

"Where's Dubai?"

Echizen stares at him for a few seconds, before shrugging and carrying on with his lunch.

Momo knows Echizen won't come to afternoon practice with an atlas, and point out where Dubai is. He wonders whether this is why they can't play doubles together, but Eiji and Oishi are the golden pair.

He's thinking this as Echizen approaches him, cap, as always, obscuring his face and expression. But Momo sees him fidget and wonders what he's nervous about.

"Hey…" Echizen begins, glancing up at Momo who can now see the boy's eyes, shining up at him. "Isn't there a Dubai Tennis Championship?"

Momo thinks there just might be, so he nods. Echizen makes a 'Hn' in reply, and glances down again.

"I think Federer won it this year."

He walks away stiffly and Momo smiles after him.

They aren't the golden pair. But they don't have to be.

This is a birthday fic for Quack. 79 days late. XD

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